Florida State Falls to 0-3 with Loss to Memphis

By Dan Hope on September 14, 2024 at 3:32 pm
Memphis wide receiver Koby Drake runs away from Florida State cornerback Azareye’h Thomas
Melina Myers – Imagn Images
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Florida State’s nightmarish start to the season went from bad to worse in its third game of the year.

After starting the year with conference losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College in Weeks 0 and 1, a bye week didn’t solve the Seminoles’ woes. They took their worst loss of the season yet in Week 3 as they fell to Memphis, a Group of 5 opponent, by a 20-12 final score.

Florida State trailed for the entire game after Memphis scored a field goal following an opening-drive fumble by FSU running back Roydell Williams. The Seminoles’ offensive woes that have plagued them all season continued as DJ Uigalelei completed just 16 of 30 passing attempts for 201 yards with an interception while they finished the game with only 37 net rushing yards.

Poetically, Mike Norvell’s postgame press conference ended with a fire alarm going off.

The Seminoles, which entered the season ranked 10th in the preseason AP poll after going 12-0 in the regular season and winning the ACC championship, are now all but eliminated from the College Football Playoff race. Florida State’s only hope of making the CFP now would be if the Seminoles won out and their 6-2 record was good enough to get them into the ACC Championship Game, which means they’d need a lot of help.

Based on the way they’ve played so far this season, though, the Seminoles might have to battle just to get bowl-eligible, considering they still have games against Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame on their schedule.

Florida State becomes the first top-10 team in the preseason AP poll to start the season with three losses to unranked opponents. The Seminoles paid Memphis $1.3 million for Saturday’s loss.


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